


#77 Murder

by Kyarorain



Series: Poké100 [77]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-11
Updated: 2011-03-11
Packaged: 2018-01-06 08:24:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1104618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyarorain/pseuds/Kyarorain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This nice, sunny, Team Rocket-free day was about to take a terrible turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	#77 Murder

It was such a nice day. The sun was out and the sky was clear. Team Rocket hadn't even shown up... yet. So far, today was looking pretty good. It didn't seem like anything could possibly ruin this day.

How so very wrong Ash was.

For this day was about to take a terrible turn that he could not have foreseen.

Ash, Misty and Brock had stopped to eat lunch in a little clearing by a forest. It had been a perfectly good meal especially since Brock had cooked it. Ash was tasked with washing the dishes and now he sat by the river, scrubbing the plates furiously until every last crumb had gone.

"There we go!" Ash held up the last plate, seeing how it gleamed in the sun. "Now it's nice and clean. That's all the hard work done." He wiped his sweaty brow. "Whew. I'm all hot and sweaty from that work. Well, let's get back now, Pikachu."

"Pika!" Pikachu got to his feet. While Ash had been working himself to the bone, Pikachu had been curled up on the grass, enjoying a nice little nap.

Ash carried the dishes back, whistling a little tune. He was feeling in perfectly good spirits especially on such a day like this. If only they could have more days like this, especially without the constant Team Rocket attacks. Those guys sure knew how to ruin a good day.

Soon enough, he found the site where they had set up the table for lunch.

Ash came to a sudden stop, his mouth dropping at the sight before him.

There Brock lay, curled up in a ball on the ground. It was clear that something was very wrong.

"Brock? Brock!" Ash set down the dishes carefully and ran to his friend. "Brock, are you okay? What happened?" He gently rolled Brock onto his back and froze. The pupils of his eyes shrank down to mere pinpricks.

A large red stain spread across Brock's shirt.

Ash continued to stare wordlessly, scarcely able to comprehend what he was seeing. His pulse roared loudly in his ears.

"A-ash..." Brock gasped out. He raised a shaky hand, weakly placing it upon Ash's arm.

"Brock?" Ash spoke again, his voice quivering.

"You've... got to run..." Brock's voice was faint and he could barely make out what he was saying. "Hurry. I'm... done for."

"No!" Ash burst out, tears springing to his eyes. "Hold on, Brock! You've got to!"

"I'm not going to make it... hurry... before they get you. Goodbye..."

Brock's hand fell away and hit the ground with a dull thud. His head turned away and he released his final breath.

Ash whimpered, his body trembling violently.

This couldn't be happening. It had to all be a bad dream.

Someone was screaming.

It took a while for Ash to realise it was actually him.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu was furiously shaking him.

"Pikachu?" Ash mumbled dully, turning his gaze to the electric mouse. He couldn't think anymore. Brock was dead. Somebody had murdered him. Who had done it? Why?

"Pikachupi!" Pikachu waved his arms frantically. "Pikachupi!"

"Misty?" Ash gasped, jumping to his feet and looking around wildly. Of course, Misty wasn't there. "MISTY!"

A loud noise came from within the trees, startling Ash. He clenched his fists tightly. Had the killer made that noise? Misty could still be alive. He needed to save her.

"Misty! I'm coming!" Ash shouted, racing toward the trees. "Please... please still be alive..." He couldn't lose her too. It was unthinkable.

Ash wandered through the trees, calling out Misty's name over and over. There was no answer. No matter how many times he called, nobody answered back.

A twig snapped close by and he whirled around. His chest heaved as he breathed rapidly. Sweat formed on his brow.

"Show yourself!" Ash exclaimed. "If you're the killer... you'd better not have done anything to Misty. I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Brock!"

Only the dead silence greeted his cries. Ash bit down on his bottom lip. Being alone in the woods and knowing a killer might be lurking close by made him feel nervous. If he wasn't careful, the killer could get him too. Ash breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled. He had to be calm, no matter what.

Then something leaped at his back, forcefully pushing him to the ground.

Ash gasped and hurriedly turned over, looking up at a black robed figure. Their face was obscured by a hood and their hand clutched onto a knife. The blade was painted a bright scarlet. As the knife hovered over him, he was seized by terror and released a scream.

Ash screwed his eyes shut, waiting for the knife to come down. He was done for. How could he have been so careless?

A peal of female laughter shocked him into opening his eyes. He stared up at the hooded figure in disbelief. That didn't sound like evil laughter in the least. No... it was a laugh of amusement.

The figure reached up and drew back her hood, revealing herself to be none other than Misty.

"Oh, Ash! The look on your face... it was priceless!" Misty grinned.

"What... what..." Ash blinked in confusion. What was going on here?

"April Fools!" Misty said. "This isn't blood, Ash," she added, waving the knife toward him. "It's just ketchup."

"Then... Brock..."

"Oh, he's fine. That was ketchup too."

Ash got to his feet. Right now, he was feeling a mixture of relief and fury. "That wasn't funny at all! How could you? I really thought... ugh!" He turned around and started running back toward the clearing, his face burning in humiliation. How could they have tricked him like that?

Brock was still there, now in the process of changing into a clean shirt. He saw the look on Ash's face. "Hey, Ash, I'm sorry about that. Misty threatened me into going along with it. It was all her idea."

"Geez. I really thought you were dead," Ash muttered, sitting in a chair. He noticed Pikachu eating from a bottle of ketchup. "Uh, why has Pikachu got ketchup?" For that matter, why hadn't Pikachu followed him into the woods in the first place?

"Well, it turned out that Pikachu smelled the ketchup on my shirt." Brock smiled sheepishly. "He really wanted some."

Ash put his head in his hands, sighing in exasperation. "Next year, I'm going to get her back," he said ominously. "Just wait and see."


End file.
